The question behind the question
One of the first things Coventry business owners ask us is which platform they should use. It is a reasonable question, but the honest answer depends on what the site needs to do, who will update it and how much ongoing cost you are comfortable with.
Here is how we think about it, without trying to push you towards whatever we happen to like building.
The short version
Choose the platform last, not first. Write down how often you will edit the site, whether you will sell online, what it must connect to and what you can spend each month. The right answer between WordPress, Shopify and a custom build usually follows from that list.
Website builders: Wix, Squarespace and similar
For a small business that needs a straightforward brochure site and wants to manage it alone, a builder can be perfectly sensible. Hosting, security and updates are handled for you, and the monthly cost is predictable.
The trade-offs are flexibility and performance. Builders can be slow, harder to optimise for search in detail, and awkward to move away from later. If you expect the site to grow significantly or need custom features, you may outgrow one.
WordPress
WordPress powers a large share of the web and has a huge ecosystem of themes, plugins and developers. It is a good fit when you want to own your site outright, publish regularly and have plenty of options for adding features.
Its weakness is maintenance. WordPress sites need regular updates to the core software, theme and plugins, and a badly maintained one can become slow or insecure. Budget for proper hosting and a care plan, or set aside time to do updates yourself.
Shopify
For retailers selling physical products, Shopify is usually the easiest route to a reliable online shop. Payments, hosting and security are handled, and there are apps for most things a small retailer needs.
Watch the running costs: monthly plan, transaction fees if you do not use Shopify Payments, and app subscriptions that add up. For a shop with a few hundred products and steady sales, these are usually worth paying for the reliability.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce adds e-commerce to WordPress. It suits businesses that already have a WordPress site, sell a smaller range, or need product rules that Shopify handles awkwardly, such as trade pricing tiers or complex product configuration.
It carries the same maintenance responsibility as WordPress, plus the extra care needed for anything that takes payments.
Custom builds
A custom build makes sense when you need something specific: a quote calculator, a customer portal, integration with an ERP or job-management system, or a site that has to be exceptionally fast. Coventry's engineering and manufacturing firms often have requirements like this.
The costs are higher up front, and you are more dependent on the developer who built it. Insist on documentation, version control and a clear handover so another developer could pick it up.
A middle route that works well is a lightweight static site for the marketing pages, which is fast and cheap to host, with custom tools added only where they are needed.
Hidden costs worth asking about
Whatever platform you choose, ask about the costs that appear after launch. Domain renewal, hosting, premium plugin or app licences, email, SSL if it is not included, backups, and the time someone spends keeping it all updated. A cheap build on an expensive stack of subscriptions can cost more over three years than a better build on simpler foundations.
Ask too who owns what. You should own the domain in your own name, have administrator access to the site and hosting, and be able to export your content. If a supplier keeps those back, it becomes very hard to move later.
Speed and search are not platform-specific
People sometimes believe one platform is inherently better for search. In practice, a well-built site on any of these platforms can perform well, and a badly built one on any of them can perform poorly. What matters is clean structure, fast loading, sensible page titles, good content and proper internal links.
That is why we recommend choosing the platform on the basis of how you will run the business day to day: who updates the site, how often, and what it needs to connect to. Get that decision right and the technical side can be made to work.
A side-by-side comparison
| WordPress | Shopify | Custom or static build | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Brochure, service and content-led sites edited often | Online shops of most sizes | Very fast sites, unusual features or tools |
| Editing | Easy for most people once set up properly | Easy, especially for products | Depends on the setup; sometimes needs a developer |
| Running costs | Hosting and maintenance; some paid plugins | Monthly plan plus transaction fees and apps | Often low hosting costs; developer time for changes |
| Main risk | Plugin sprawl and missed updates | App costs creeping up | Dependence on whoever built it |
| Speed | Good when built lean | Good | Usually excellent |
Questions to answer before you choose
- How often will you change the site, and who will do it?
- Will you sell online now, or within two years?
- Does the site need to connect to other systems, such as stock, CRM or booking?
- How much can you spend each month on running costs, not just the build?
- Who will own and be able to access the site if your supplier changes?
If you answer these honestly, the choice usually becomes obvious. Our website design, ecommerce and hosting and maintenance pages explain how we approach each. Many of the city-centre businesses on our Coventry city centre page are well served by a small WordPress site.
Common mistakes when choosing
- Picking a platform because a friend uses it, without thinking about how you will use the site.
- Choosing a page builder that makes every page slow, because it was quick to set up.
- Building a custom site without making sure you can get the code and hosting access if your developer moves on.
- Starting on a cheap shop plan and adding a dozen paid apps until the monthly bill is higher than a better plan would have been.
The safest approach is to write down how you will use the site before talking to any supplier, then ask them to explain their recommendation against that list. A good supplier will be happy to, and will tell you when a cheaper option would do the job.
A quick way to decide
If you sell physical products online, start by looking at Shopify. If you want to publish lots of content and own everything, WordPress. If you need a simple brochure site and want no maintenance, a builder. If you have specific functional requirements or need maximum speed, custom.
Whichever you choose, the content, structure and quality of writing will matter more to customers than the platform underneath.